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Minister Launches 2nd New Table Mountain Trail: Model of Success for Tourism, Conservation and Job Creation

“The Hoerikwaggo Trails project is a model for the success of the linkages between conservation, tourism, and job creation. It is fast becoming a flagship of our Expanded Public Works Programme,” said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, launching the new Table Mountain Trail, the second of four new trails in Cape Town on Thursday.

Launched by the Minister on Youth Day this year, the first of the four trails – the People’s Trail – was designed mainly as an outreach programme to expose young people from all communities both to the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and to conservation. The 3 day, 2 night Table Mountain Trail is targeted to be a more luxurious experience – fully portered, fully catered and professionally guided it takes hikers from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront, through a cultural and historical walking tour of the city, up the Cableway, explores the Back Table, and finally descends Nursery Ravine to end in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. With overnight stops at the newly refurbished and historically restored Platteklip Wash House and the old Overseers’ Cottage, the trail is aimed primarily at the upper end of the tourism market.

“Our Department is very proud to be part of the creation of these new trails,” said the Minister. “They add a whole new dimension to the tourism products on offer in the Cape – opening the door to fantastic new experiences of some of our best-loved attractions, with fresh new twists and a whole new perspective.” As part of the launch event the Minister was also presented with the first-ever Afrikaans and Xhosa maps of Table Mountain, as well as the first-ever cadastral maps of South Africa as referenced to the celestial fixing of the coordinates of Maclear’s Beacon on Table Mountain.

TMNP Park Manager, Brett Myrdal, added: “The Hoerikwaggo Trails combine some the of the most important priorities for all South African communities by building parks and at the same time building people – through job creation, training, employment, and also by creating a sense of ownership and pride in our conservation efforts and tourism facilities. Perhaps the most heart warming aspect of this suite of Trails is that profits from the TM Trail will be used to make access to the Peoples Trail affordable to the youth of Cape Town. The Table Mountain Trail will have an eventual annual capacity of about 4000 hikers who be professionally introduced to the wonders of over-nighting on Table Mountain by accredited Hoerikwaggo Guides. We plan to open the third trail – the hardcore 6 day, 5 night Tip to Top in November next year, with the final Top to Tip trail targeted for launch in November 2007. All four trails will be marketed extensively by SANParks and also at national and international trade shows like the annual Tourism Indaba.”

Speaking about the involvement of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Minister Van Schalkwyk said: “We are investing R35 million over three years into these TMNP projects through our Expanded Public Works Programme. Focusing on training local unemployed people, these projects to upgrade the footpaths and create the trail infrastructure have seen 416 people employed so far – with more than 68 000 job days of employment and more than 9 800 training days completed. Of course this project is part of a much wider programme of investment by our Department in all 22 National Parks. For the three years from 2004-7 we are spending more than R296 million through poverty relief projects – focusing mainly on new infrastructure like these trails, and through projects like our CoastCare programme. Before March 2007 this investment should deliver, amongst others, 5 new rest camps – with 124 new tourist beds; the upgrading of 145 existing tourism accommodation units; the construction and upgrading of 323km of tourist roads; 397km of new fences for park boundaries – needed to protect our new land under protection; and the upgrading and major renovation of more than 320km of footpaths and trails.”

The Minister also addressed the issue of recent security concerns within the TMNP, saying: “We are extremely concerned about these incidents and are committed to resolving the problem. There are some people who say we should fence the whole park to improve security. Apart from the fact that this would be incredibly expensive and impractical, the reality is that it would simply not work. The real solution is to do the opposite – we need to increase public access to the park and the mountain. Our aim is to turn hot spots into safe spots, by promoting access and reclaiming vulnerable areas. By increasing the deployment of Visitor Safety Rangers and mobilising communities to come in greater numbers into areas like Deer Park, by linking the city to the mountain with new trails, and by bringing more people more often into these areas, we will reduce the opportunity for crime. Our Departmental funding has also been partly used to employ 42 local people to carry out 24-hour roving patrols in the park to help address the security concerns that have been such a hot-issue in recent weeks. I am pleased that a further 18 people are to be employed by 1 December – bringing the force to 60, and that another 50-60 local volunteers will also be assisting over this festive season. These efforts will be expanded continuously.”

“I believe that Table Mountain National Park, SANParks, and our Department should all be very proud of the progress that has already been made with these Hoerikwaggo trails,” said the Minister. “As we use Government funding to create jobs we are improving our attractions to bring more tourism. As we bring more tourism, we generate more revenue – both for communities and for conservation. It is a virtuous green circle, and our congratulations to the park and its managers for proving this point so successfully.”

The Table Mountain Trail will be available to hikers at a cost of R600 per person per day , with significant discounts for Wild Card holders. For further details and to make bookings, members of the public can visit the website at http://www.hoerikwaggotrails.co.za/ or call 021 422 2816.

Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp (Ministerial Spokesperson)
083-778-9923 or

Fiona Kalk (TMNP Media)
084-441-1285

Please Note: These numbers are for Media enquiries only – enquiries about the trails and bookings should please be made to 021 422 2816 or at http://www.hoerikwaggotrails.co.za/